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Pop Shop a 50-year affair at the fair
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
It’s no secret that it can be costly to eat all day at any fair. That’s why about 50 years ago Tony Carrera, 86, took on the task of making sure there were some lower-cost food options at the Canfield Fairgrounds.
“I have been doing the fair for a long time,” Carrera said. “I have five kids, and I realized I couldn’t afford it.”
Carrera started with hot dogs and pre-made sandwiches selling out of a 7Up trailer, which is why the shop became known as the Pop Shop.
Carrera was always at the fair and used to show horses. He started to contribute money from the Pop Shop profits to 4-H and then realized he could reach more youth if he gave to the Junior Fair, which is comprised of multiple organizations.
He asked the Canfield Fair Board if something could be built to house the Pop Shop, and he was told to draw out what he would like to see. He drew a kitchen and patio setting, which is there now. Contributors helped to pay for the structure, which was built in the early 1980s.
To churn a profit and give back to the youth, he could not pay any workers, so instead the Junior Fair members would volunteer, and still do, which makes them eligible to receive a scholarship from the Pop Shop profits.
“Some of these kids put this on their resumes,” he said. “It teaches them work skills and how to be organized.”
Carrera is a retired teacher, so he takes pride in knowing the Junior Fair youth working at the Pop Shop making wing dings and hot dogs are learning. From 2005 to 2015 the Pop Shop proceeds of more than $20,000 have gone to area students.
When asked how it feels to see what he created, Carrera gives a thumbs up. He has watched generations of families come back and work at the Pop Shop.
“It makes me feel good,” he said. “They worked in there, and now their kids work in there.”
Check out the Pop Shop’s new item menu, the milkshake, at its location behind the 4-H barns.